Jeff Bezos is reportedly becoming a CEO again—and it’s for a $6.2 billion AI startup called ‘Project Prometheus’
来源：Fortune | 发布时间：2025-11-28
摘要：2025 年 11 月，卸任亚马逊 CEO 三年的杰夫・贝索斯（Jeff Bezos） 宣布 “重出江湖”，亲自出任新 AI 初创公司 “普罗米修斯计划（Project Prometheus） ” 联席 CEO；该公司启动即获62 亿美元融资（含贝索斯个人出资），核心定位为开发 “实体经济 AI”—— 聚焦工程、制造、航天等硬科技领域，通过 “从物理世界学习” 的 AI 模型实现工业创新，而非追逐 ChatGPT 类大语言模型；此举直接对标埃隆・马斯克（Elon Musk） 的 xAI（AI 聊天机器人 Grok）与特斯拉（Optimus 机器人、FSD）业务，两人从太空领域（蓝色起源 vs SpaceX）的竞争正式延伸至 AI 实体经济赛道，贝索斯同时强调 “AI 泡沫真实存在，但将改变每一个行业”，甚至暗示项目未来或参与 “太空 AI 基础设施” 建设。
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and one of the world’s most influential tech pioneers, is officially returning to hands-on leadership as co-CEO of a new artificial intelligence (AI) venture called Project Prometheus, The New York Times reported, citing three people familiar with the company. This marks Bezos’s most significant operational role since he stepped down as Amazon’s chief executive in 2021.
Bezos is making a comeback as co-CEO, to be exact: alongside Vik Bajaj, whose LinkedIn profileidentifies him as co-CEO and co-founder of Project Prometheus. Bajaj is a former director of GoogleX, the so-called “Moonshot Factory,” where he worked closely with Google co-founder Sergey Brin on efforts including the self-driving car that became Waymo. The Times reported that the new startup has $6.2 billion in funding, including some from Bezos himself. With a very low profile, details about the startup are hard to find, including when it was founded and where it will be based. According to the Times, it will focus on AI to support engineering and manufacturing in fields such as computers, aerospace, and automobiles, indicating that it will be closely involved with Bezos’ other startup, the commercial space exploration company Blue Origin.
Project Prometheus is still in stealth mode, but its focus is emerging: the practical application of AI to manufacturing and engineering across computing, automotive, and aerospace sectors. The name, drawn from Greek mythology, refers to the Titan who brought fire to humanity—symbolizing both inspiration and potential peril, themes at the heart of ongoing global debates about artificial intelligence’s risks and rewards. Bezos’ recent predictions and public statements about AI indicate that he is plowing through concerns about a bubble in the space and still sees significant room for tech to reshape everyday life.
Space dreams
Bezos’s vision for the future extends beyond just developing smarter AI. Recently, while speaking at Italian Tech Week 2025, he remarked, “In the next kind of couple of decades, I believe there will be millions of people living in space … That’s how fast this is going to accelerate,” emphasizing that advanced robotics and AI will enable not just off-planet living, but also new forms of labor and creativity. Bezos told the audience, “If you need to do some work on the surface of the moon or anywhere else, we will be able to send robots to do that work, and that will be much more cost-effective than sending humans.”
Project Prometheus seems to be part of this vision, working hand in hand with Blue Origin to realize Bezos’ dreams of human expansion beyond Earth. As CEO of Amazon, Bezos championed a television program called The Expansethat was canceled by cable TV channel Syfy; it depicted a near future when humans would leave Earth to travel around the solar system. Bezos announced that Amazon Prime was saving the show onstage at the the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference in 2022.
Bezos’ optimism stands in stark contrast to some more pessimistic narratives in technology circles. As Bezos put it in Italy this year, “Civilizational abundance comes from our inventions … these tools increase our abundance, and that pattern will continue.” The launch has already sparked debate about how artificial intelligence will shape the future—not just on Earth, but, as Bezos and allies like Elon Musk and Sam Altman also predict, potentially across the solar system. The rise of Project Prometheus serves as a philosophical and technological statement, blending Bezos’ relentless optimism about “civilizational abundance” and his conviction that AI can be a force for good.
At the same tech conference in Turin, Bezos made headlines by saying that “There is an AI bubble.” Still, he described it as an “industrial bubble” rather than a financial one, drawing parallels to the biotech bubble of the 1990s that, despite failures, ultimately yielded life-saving innovations. Bezos emphasized the long-term societal benefits of AI despite short-term market excesses, saying, “This is real, the benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic.” He noted that during such bubbles, “everything gets funded,” making it hard to distinguish good ideas from bad, which he said “is probably happening today” in AI investments. His optimism aligns with predictions of transformative change, stating, “AI is real, and it is going to change every industry.”
At the same conference, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon agreed that things look bubbly. “There will be a lot of capital that was deployed that didn’t deliver returns,” he said. “We just don’t know how that will play out.” Bezos is betting that he knows how things will play out.
刚刚，马斯克真的破防了！贝索斯豪掷62亿美金“重出江湖”，亲自下场入局“实体AI”
“你又抄袭我？”当贝索斯带着62亿美金杀入AI战场时，马斯克毫不客气地送上了“问候”。
就在刚刚，卸任亚马逊CEO三年的杰夫·贝索斯（Jeff Bezos）宣告“重出江湖”。他不仅豪掷巨资，启动了一家名为“普罗米修斯计划”（Project Prometheus）的神秘AI初创公司，更亲自出任联席CEO，
这家公司的目标，并非又一个ChatGPT，而是直指AI在工程、制造、航天等“实体经济”领域的应用。这几乎是精准地踏入了马斯克xAI和特斯拉机器人业务的核心领地。
一场从太空延续到AI的“亿万富翁双雄对决”，已然全面升级。
一、贝索斯“重出江湖”，首任CEO
这是贝索斯自2021年7月卸任亚马逊首席执行官以来，首次在一家公司担任正式的运营角色。 虽然他对蓝色起源倾注了大量心血，但其官方头衔始终是“创始人”。而“普罗米修斯计划”的横空出世，彻底打破了这种“幕后老板”的形象。
61岁的贝索斯选择“躬身入局”，意味着他将再次带领一个团队，目标直指开发“未来技术”。作为全球第三富有的人，贝索斯的再次创业，本身便向世界宣告：他打算继续成为未来几十年商业格局的“核心玩家”。
“普罗米修斯计划”启动时就获得了62亿美元的“天价”融资，这不仅使其成为全球资金最充足的早期初创公司之一，也直接点明了AI技术竞赛的残酷现实：开发和运行人工智能的成本非常高昂。
贝索斯此次创业得到了联合创始人兼联席首席执行官维克·巴贾吉（Vik Bajaj）的支持，后者曾在谷歌的“登月工厂”（X实验室）与联合创始人谢尔盖·布林（Sergey Brin）紧密合作，推动了Wing无人机配送和Waymo自动驾驶汽车等雄心勃勃的项目。
之后，巴贾吉还作为创始团队成员参与了谷歌母公司Alphabet旗下专注于生命科学研究的实验室Verily，并共同创立了专注于AI与数据科学的孵化器Foresite Labs。
二、神秘的“普罗米修斯”，直击“实体经济AI”
“普罗米修斯计划”，这个名字来源于那位为人类盗取火种的希腊神明，本身就暗示着其宏伟抱负。这家公司此前一直保持低调，甚至其确切的成立时间都不清楚，但其“为实体经济打造AI”的定位，却清晰地勾勒出了其野心勃勃的技术路线图。
在ChatGPT等大语言模型（LLM）“一统天下”的当下，“普罗米修斯计划”却剑走偏锋。它并不满足于LLM通过分析海量数字文本来学习和模仿人类语言模式的能力。与之相反，它旨在构建“比聊天机器人学习方式更复杂的AI模型”，专注于让AI系统能够“从物理世界中学习”。
网友们点赞称，“普罗米修斯计划并非又一家AI创业公司”，其核心区别在于将机器智能应用于现实世界的工程与制造领域。这标志着其目标是成为一家用AI驱动实体经济发展的公司，而非追逐大语言模型或聊天机器人的热潮。
其核心技术方向，是研发可用于工程和制造领域的AI，覆盖计算机、航空航天和汽车等“硬科技”行业。 值得注意的是，许多知名的AI公司，包括OpenAI、谷歌和Meta，也已经在研究用于加速物理科学工作的类似技术。
通过在实验室中让机器人大规模进行科学实验，“普罗米修斯计划”的AI系统有望通过分析这些“物理试错”过程，学会在很大程度上自主开展实验。这种基于“物理世界数据”的AI训练方式，旨在实现传统LLM难以企及的科学发现和工业创新。
尽管成立时间不长，“普罗米修斯计划”已经雇佣了近100名员工，其中包括从OpenAI、DeepMind和Meta等顶尖AI团队挖来的知名研究人员。
三、马斯克“隔空开火”，一场从太空到AI的“世纪较量”
贝索斯“重出江湖”的消息，瞬间引爆了马斯克的“嘲讽模式”。这两位亿万富翁之间的竞争，如今正从浩瀚太空全面延烧至AI的“实体经济”战场。
贝索斯和马斯克的竞争始于太空。贝索斯的蓝色起源是马斯克SpaceX的直接竞争对手，两家公司都在积极研发可重复使用火箭技术，争夺太空合同。
而现在，“普罗米修斯计划”无疑将使其与马斯克的xAI（拥有社交媒体平台X和AI聊天机器人Grok）和特斯拉（FSD、Optimus机器人）形成“正面交锋”。
可以预见，“普罗米修斯计划”可能很快会成为马斯克公司的直接竞争对手，或为马斯克的竞争者提供工具。 想象一下，特斯拉的竞争对手可能会与贝索斯支持的公司合作，利用其AI工具来对抗特斯拉；或者其他社交媒体公司利用其AI工具来挑战马斯克的X平台。
这种“生态系统级”的对抗，将使得这场亿万富翁的较量，变得更加错综复杂、充满变数。
有网友评论道，普罗米修斯计划是贝索斯商业帝国缺失的核心拼图，它作为AI大脑，将连接并增强蓝色起源和亚马逊的现有业务，形成战略协同。
四、AI“泡沫”与未来：贝索斯的“长期主义”
尽管当前AI领域存在“泡沫”的争议，但贝索斯对AI的未来却充满信心。
“泡沫是真实存在的，但AI将改变每一个行业，”
在一次会议上，贝索斯坦承，当前AI领域存在“工业泡沫”的迹象，即股价可能与企业基本面脱节，甚至“几乎每一个想法（无论好坏）都会得到资金支持”。
然而，他的核心观点却是“AI是真实存在的，它将改变每一个行业”。他坚信，当“尘埃落定”，社会将从这些发明中受益，AI将为社会带来“巨大的益处”。
贝索斯甚至支持大胆的人工智能相关投资，包括在太空建设数据中心。他曾在一次科技会议上表示，为减少地球污染，工厂、数据中心和其他工业设施未来应该迁往月球或轨道站，称“月球是宇宙的礼物”。这不仅延续了他对太空的宏大愿景，更暗示了“普罗米修斯计划”可能在未来承担建设“太空AI基础设施”的重任。
这场由贝索斯亲自领衔、斥资62亿的AI新战役，与马斯克的xAI和特斯拉机器人业务形成了“殊途同归却又狭路相逢”的局面。两位科技巨头在太空领域的“私人恩怨”，如今正以AI为新的战场，展开一场更为深远、更为激烈的“基础设施霸权”之争。（小小）